Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Evil Strikes Again

Imagine, if you will, a massive construction project. Millions of dollars are at stake, thousands of jobs, and a nearly impossible deadline. And underscoring the whole thing, only 5 deaths. Sounds like something out of the 1930s, doesn't it? Think again. This is going on right now in Las Vegas. MGM Mirage’s CityCenter is an $8 billion project, and has had 5 deaths over the last 17 months. That's more construction related deaths than during the entire renovation of the strip in the 1990s. While investigations are on-going, all the company has to say is that the project’s general contractor, Perini Building Co., has kept the work site as safe as possible given the volume of construction. Isn't that special. You can read the whole story here.

In local news, I had a lovely birthday yesterday. Thank you to all of you who sent your greetings and well-wishings. After work we went to the local Chinese buffet, where I ate too much, drank a little too much sake, and then went home to become a couch spud. My wife and young'n gave me the latest Alien v Predator movie, and a lovely new pewter dragon for my collection. All in all it was a very nice birthday.

I also caught myself nearly falling for some corporate doubletalk this morning. As I was making the young'n's lunch, I noticed on the package of lunch meat that it said 'minimally processed'. At first I thought,'well isn't that nice'. Then reality seeped in to my sleepy brain and I realized what a bullshit labeling tactic that was. Given that each slice is identical in size, shape, and texture just what the fuck does 'minimally processed' mean? It probably falls into the same category as 'all natural', meaning it is, well, meaningless. Nice try, Madison Avenue.